The Ghost
by Nigelcat1
Summary: Due to the effects of the blood quill, Harry Potter is losing his magic at an alarming rate and will be a Squib and a dead one before Christmas. After essentially burning his bridges behind him, he does something desperate and hopes it will work. Does it or doesn't it? You have to read this story to find out.
1. Chapter 1 - He Couldn't Take It Anymore

THE GHOST

J K Rowling owns all the rights to the books and the amazing characters she created. I write only to satisfy my imagination and use my creativity and make no money from my writings.

Chapter 1 – He Couldn't Take It Anymore

A boy, a boy who could almost be considered a man but never would be by most, was in pain as he hurried through the corridors of the ancient castle heading towards the seldom used exit he knew about. He clutched his right hand with his left, trying to keep blood from dripping off his hand onto the floor as his exhausted, poisoned body could not afford to lose more blood. However, he knew he would as tomorrow he would either be spending three excruciating hours losing more blood via writing "simple lines" with an illegal blood quill in detention with the "Toad Woman from Hell" or worst, much worst.

You see the boy who was nearly a man was Harry James Potter and Harry James Potter had been conceived, born, lived and raised to suffer, to endure and in the end…well only Albus Dumbledore really knew when it would end as like Harry's conception, birth, upbringing and what passed for his miserable life, Albus Dumbledore would choose when it was allowed to end. It would end when the Greatest Wizard since Merlin and self-proclaimed Leader of the Light, Legendary Hero and whichever of the many accolades given to him he was using that week, decided it would end. It would not occur a moment before because again, it was the WILL OF ALBUS DUMBLEDORE, who always won in the end…even if it took longer than originally expected.

It was four weeks into Harry Potter's fifth year. He had led a Dickensian childhood – all thanks to Dumbledore and his wants, needs and schemes – had had a very minute bit of hope when he found out he was a wizard only for it to be dashed when he re-entered "his true world" and found not friends, respect, hope and the learning he was hoping for, but the same. It was basically the same he had lived with at the Dursleys only it wasn't just the small portion of Surrey where he lived it was a much larger group of people, it was an entire world.

And he had disappointed 99.9% of this entire world as he was not what they had expected, what they had been led to believe he was. No he was nothing like what was expected and most saddest of all, what he really should have been, because he had been denied the knowledge of EVERYTHING HE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BY RIGHTS not only due to his heritage standing in this world but all of the very basics that even Muggleborns knew about before they came to Hogwarts.

No. Dumbledore had seen to it that he KNEW NOTHING AND NEVER WOULD. The more it could have helped him to fit in, the more it existence was denied to him. And everybody was "in on it" as it was the will and orders of Albus Dumbledore. Even Harry's enemies went along with the isolation, the lack of knowledge, the campaign against one innocent, helpless, orphaned boy whose only fault, the only "sin he had committed" was to be born and shamelessly used for one wicked old man's personal agenda.

And the most tragic and real sin of all was that there was nothing Harry James Potter could do about it. There was no one to help him, not even though who professed to "love him" and "care for him" or "admired him" for at least being the Boy-Who-Lived and Savior-of-them-All. Well _"rightfully"_ that last title still belonged and always would belong to Albus Dumbledore, but some foolish people still used it when speaking about Harry Potter, albeit very few and those people didn't count or matter in the grand scheme of things.

The second most tragic thing was that Harry knew about it. He always had despite all that had been done to prevent it. The Dursleys made sure that Harry knew he was worthless, stupid, ugly, pathetic, talentless and undeserving of even the most basic of human needs. No he was subhuman, a FREAK, who by rights had no earthly reason to be born, let alone allowed to live since he was such an abomination. They gave him disgusting, cruel, totally untrue reasons while they "allowed him to live" and be given the very minimum of human needs – but only if he well and truly earned them. And he had, sort of, because he was still alive thanks to their generosity.

The one most important thing those sadistic excuses for human beings had drummed into the mind and soul of Harry Potter was this: He was unlovable, never was, never would be and NO ONE CARED ABOUT HIM OR EVER WOULD. He had no one, never would if only because he was such repugnant creature he deserved the horrible treatment he received. If fact, had it been in their power, the Dursleys would have killed him in an instant given the chance but as slowly and painfully as possible if only to save the world from the "THING" that was Harry Potter.

Only one thing had prevented the boy from truly believing it and then only barely. Only one thing had prevented the child from ending his existence and pleasing his relatives and finally doing something good for the world. Both were due to two completely different things. The first was the voice in Harry's head which had saved him, comforted him, guided him and gave him the only hope he had ever had growing up with the Dursleys. Call it a conscious, a guardian angel, or demon as the Dursleys would tell him, but without the voice he would have come to Hogwarts a sniveling shell of a person and if he had "disappointed" people before, they probably would have killed him if he had arrived as that shell.

But the voice had…faded…since he entered Hogwarts and been sorted into Gryffindor. He searched for it but it was gone as if it had fled the moment he "received the colors" at his sorting. He kept searching for it especially when things in his life were at the lowest of levels, but it did not answer. He still tried as he knew if only by instinct alone that the voice was the only thing that had ever cared. It had not returned and showed no signs of doing so.

When he came to Hogwarts, he thought the voice must have been his magical core. "Officially" he wasn't supposed to know about magical cores, especially his, but he did. He thought his Magic must have been talking to him all of these years and worked like his accidental magic – which was the only thing that had kept him alive – did, namely it was only used when he was upset and in danger. When he came to Hogwarts and it had disappeared it must be due to him now knowing about Magic, having a wand and was now under the guidance and protection of the Greatest Wizard since Merlin, Albus Dumbledore.

That theory didn't lasted very long as he realized that although vastly different in some ways, Hogwarts, its environment and people were no different than the Dursleys and people of Surrey, except for being much more dangerous. After the "troll incident" when Hermione Granger had been "allowed to become his friend" much to the utter fury of his "best mate" Ron Weasley, he knew without a doubt that he was being controlled, his life was planned down to the smallest detail and he would not be allowed to deviate from that plan for whatever reason. He was alone and totally helpless.

Each year he was "tested" by Dumbledore and each year he barely survived. He was then sent back to the hell of Surrey where the Dursleys tried to fit in 9½ months of abuse into the ten weeks of his summer holidays. They succeeded all too well even when he was "rescued" or Dumbledore allowed him to leave his familiar hell a few weeks early. It was never questioned nor would he have been told if he asked, why a mere Headmaster who was no relation of Harry be allowed to control and dictate his life, it was just accepted as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

Just when he thought the "tests" couldn't get any worse, they did with last year being such a year that a saint or a legendary hero of the likes of King Arthur, El Cid, William Wallace or others of fame, nobility and bravery would have crumbled, yet a 14 year BOY had had to endure it. It should have ended when he had been tricked into helping Voldemort resurrect himself from the dead, but it hadn't and not only had the evil wizard come back from the dead using Harry's own blood but Cedric Diggory had been murdered because he had been in the wrong place at the wrong time and been killed without a second thought.

By extraordinary luck or perhaps an unexplainable evil design Harry had escaped, brought back Cedric's body and the news of Voldemort's resurrection. Instead of ending or at least having a small respite of going back to the horrors of Surrey, a true hell on earth was unleased on Harry Potter which had been ten times worse than all of the slander and lies he had been subjected to for the past months. He almost didn't survive the summer, returning to school and now, because of the information one of his _**real**_ friends gave him, there was a definite possibility he was going to truly wish he was dead. HE WAS LOSING HIS MAGIC.

His Magic had been the only thing which had saved his life at the Dursleys. The famous "blood wards" which Dumbledore had placed around Privet Drive to "protect Harry from those who wished him harm" did nothing of the sort. They were based on his and his Mother's blood all right, but it didn't protect him. It merely hid him from anyone Magical who was looking for him, be they Death Eaters, a news reporter, rabid fan and most important of all (at least in Dumbledore's opinion) anyone who would try to help him, try to rescue him, or try to save him from his fate and life of pain and abuse.

Between the magic used to power these very special wards as well as having to use his Magic from the age of 15 months old to constantly save his life, Harry's magical core never got to develop to its full potential. Like all growing children, Harry needed food, rest, love or at least decent and humane treatment to grow. The Dursleys had their orders to see that he didn't get anything he needed as just a child let alone a wizard. No, Harry's Magic was stifled and just as his physical growth, he would never meet his full potential.

The only way it could be saved was if he left the confines and slavery of Privet Drive and NEVER RETURNED and if he had certain blocks removed off of his Magic and several illegal potions were flushed out of his system. If a strict regime of nutrient potions, corrective medical treatments such as the breaking and/or vanishing and completely replacing and/or re-growing of most of his bones, given special potions for his eyes and proper corrective glasses or better yet contact lenses and several other things (like the magical vaccinations he never received on orders of Dumbledore), then and only then would the drain on his Magic and his potential cease. If this wasn't done by Harry's 17th birthday, he could never recover any of it and his Magic would continue draining until, it was opined, before he reached the age of 40, he would be a near Squib. It had to be done soon if he was to have any chance at all.

Except it would never happen and Harry knew it would never happen because Dumbledore had arranged for it and wanted it to continue for the "Greater Good" as he called it and no one would dare go against the Great Albus Dumbledore especially when it concerned Harry Potter.

Ever since he had "officially" found out he was a wizard, each year he felt his Magic changing but not in a good way. Since he now had access to all the food he wanted and didn't have the crushing chores to complete, _theoretically_ he should have improved and even for the 2 ½ months he had to return to the Dursleys he should have been improving, but he wasn't. There was no one he could ask let alone who would give a real answer, not even the school Medi-witch, Madam Pomfrey. He knew because he had finally tried and was told in a roundabout way, that she couldn't help him.

And she couldn't because she was under the strictest of orders from Dumbledore himself. It wasn't just Harry Potter she couldn't treat properly but ALL Hogwarts students and staff members. She couldn't send in the mandatory monthly report to St. Mungo's required by the Ministry of Magic until Dumbledore had reviewed it and decided what she could and could not report. It went against her Healer's Oath BUT he had the poor woman under so many spells, special oaths and yes…blackmail… that she, like all of the other Hogwarts teachers were helpless against Albus Dumbledore.

Harry Potter was an extra special case and her orders were the most severe. When the boy arrived at Hogwarts anyone with eyes could see he was an abused child but she couldn't treat him unless he was brought into the Infirmary with a definite injury and then only if he were brought in by a teacher or a Prefect and with the permission of his Head of House or Dumbledore himself. She had been spelled to only treat him for the injury and was not allowed to check for or treat anything else.

It was only in his second year when he had been given permission to sit at the bedside of his "friend" Hermione Granger and keep watch while she was petrified that Harry finally got to ask Madam Pomfrey about certain…problems…he was having and/or had. She honestly told him as much as her oath to Dumbledore permitted and since she said it with tears pouring down her face well…at least the poor child finally knew the reason she had always ignored him.

Also he had been fortunate that the first year outcast of Ravenclaw, Luna Lovegood, had been in the Infirmary being treated by Poppy Pomfrey for one of the many "pranks" done to her by her housemates. Harry hadn't noticed but Luna was not only there but had heard everything and Poppy knew she had. It was Poppy who had "lent Luna a book to read" while she recovered knowing full well that the girl would not only read it to help herself but also Harry Potter. That was how two helpless, controlled outcasts became secret friends. Luna managed to contact him away from the portraits, ghosts and other magical objects which reported directed to Dumbledore as Headmaster of Hogwarts. It hadn't been easy but they had managed it and it had remained a secret for the last few years.

Luna was a very talented and extremely powerful witch but due to her parents' politics, she was made to suffer as the official outcast of Ravenclaw for her year. It was a Ravenclaw tradition (starting after Dumbledore became Headmaster) that one student from each year would be made an outcast. Usually that person was a Muggleborn with no political power whatsoever, or a Pureblood or Half-blood but one who wasn't a follower of Dumbledore. The boy or girl would be made to suffer and only if they went to the Headmaster for help would their life be made easier, would they be protected from the "pranks" and abuse received at the hands of their housemates or other students, most notably Gryffindors. Of course this protection wouldn't be received unless the student had something Dumbledore wanted, like his/her parent(s) becoming his follower, voting his way in the Wizengamot or whatever it was he could get from them. If not…well let the betting start on how long it took the student's parents to crack or the student to… suffer until he/she…well you get the picture.

Luna's mother was dead and the girl wouldn't let her father do what Dumbledore would be demanding him to do so Luna decided to do the best she could and try to survive. She would also help Harry when she could. She had used Poppy's book as well as many others to teach herself the magic needed to find out what had been done to Harry Potter by Dumbledore…and others. Unfortunately, although they both now knew what had been done, there was still nothing to be done about it as Dumbledore had ways of finding out if certain blocks were removed, certain charms, curses and hexes were removed and who or what were attempting to contact and/or help him.

She had been able to find out that he was losing his Magic due to his life at Privet Drive and Dumbledore's current manipulations and she was trying to find ways of getting around the magic of Albus Dumbledore.

However, since Harry's detentions had begun, they both noticed that he was deteriorating at a much faster rate. Luna knew about the blood quill and after her Father had done the research (as the proper books couldn't be found in the Hogwarts Library), the conclusion was reached that the blood quill was causing Harry not only pain but it was greatly speeding up the loss of his Magic.

The magic of the blood quill was very, very special and unique. When used for the purpose it was meant to, it was basically harmless as it took a miniscule bit of magic from the blood of the person using it. However, as it was currently being used on Harry and the other Muggleborns serving detention with Umbridge, it was hurting their Magic and endangering their very lives as after a certain amount of use (or rather abuse), it started to slowly but surely poison their blood and thus their Magic.

Somehow Luna had managed to obtain a bit of Harry's blood and send it off to a reliable healer friend of her Father's. The healer nearly had a stroke when he did his tests and frantically begged his friend Xeno Lovegood to tell him who the victim was as it was imperative he be given immediate treatment or he would probably be a Squib by the winter holidays. Then he would be dead a few days later as a Squib had no defense against such a thing and would die in agony. Xeno had told his friend that he was under oath not to reveal the name of the person as well as there was nothing that he or the healer could do about it. "We just needed to know and see if our horrible theory was…correct."

The healer pleaded with Xeno but the wizard remained firm, although it was obvious that his heart was breaking. Finally the healer looked his friend in the eye and asked "It's Harry Potter, isn't it? Someone is making the boy use a blood quill and it's killing him." Xeno remained sad and silent so the healer knew he was correct.

"It's the Ministry doing this. Probably that bitch Umbridge. I bet Dumbledore knows all about it and for some reason he is allowing it to happen – isn't he?"

Again the silence spoke volumes. The healer knew that there was nothing either of them could do under the circumstances so he said the only thing he could "The boy has to get away, escape somehow, and he has to do it – like last year. If he escapes and you can get him to me, I can try and help him. As long as none of us are caught and I have a good month or so, I might be able to save him, save his Magic. But unless it either stops IMMEDIATELY or he escapes soon, he will pass the point of no return and he will be dead by Christmas or very shortly thereafter if he is still using the blood quill."

So now the only hope was if Harry Potter managed to stop the detentions because he knew there was no escape from Dumbledore.

NOTE: I have several more chapters ready and will post them later today or tomorrow. I just wanted to get this story started. It will be longer than my usual stories and will have many twists and turns.

I have received criticism from some people (it is always a "Guest" so it could be more than one person) that I start a story and don't finish it and start others. So do other people. The thing is I have been writing stories for years and have just finally started be able to post them. Due to my infamous computer, I am trying to post as many of the longer stories before a new disaster or two starts. Compared to other writers, I don't get that many reviews so the only way I know if people are interested is to post a story and get a reaction. Thank you for your understanding.


	2. Chapter 2 - The Only Possible Solution

J K Rowling owns all the rights to the books and the amazing characters she created. I write only to satisfy my imagination and use my creativity and make no money from my writings.

Chapter 2 – The Only Possible Solution

Harry found the exit and fled the school. Due to their connection, Harry knew Luna would soon be joining him at their secret meeting place if she was not already there. The poor girl rarely slept in Ravenclaw Tower anymore because her things were not only stolen but she was magically locked out. Her ill-treatment had been intensified when the Weasleys told Dumbledore that Harry had met Luna Lovegood and seemed to like her. Since she wasn't "Dumbledore-approved" her Father would have to immediately toe the line or else. She wouldn't be allowed to befriend him anymore than say Neville Longbottom was "friends" with Harry despite living and sleeping in the same room as he did, but Dumbledore (and especially the Weasleys) didn't want Harry "liking" or associating with anybody other than those on the approved list, namely them.

Luna slept in various abandoned classrooms here and there and in the Infirmary whenever possible. Poppy, Flitwick and the other teachers knew about the girl's treatment and living conditions but were not allowed to do anything about it unless Dumbledore announced the "happy news" that he was taking pity on the girl, which meant her Father had crumbled and did something he wanted.

Luna was already waiting for Harry when the frantic boy entered her latest "lair" and after taking one look at him she knew things had gone badly. She knew that tonight he was going to try to negotiate with Umbitch concerning his detentions. He knew it was probably hopeless but he had to try as he had been feeling extremely weak today and was having trouble eating.

The first words out of his mouth to his friend were "Luna – you gotta kill me and do it tonight!"

"Isn't that a bit…drastic?"

"Yes, but totally necessary and here's the reason."

They sat down and tried to get comfortable. Luna started tending to Harry's hand with her own special mixture as the murtlap solution Hermione had been using on Harry had stopped working eight days ago. She hadn't noticed or if she had she didn't tell Harry because then he might attempt to go to Madam Pomfrey who would only not be allowed to help and _Hermione feared the poor medi-witch would get in trouble with Umbridge_. Therefore Harry just had to stop getting detentions, which Hermione also knew was impossible and not going to happen but she still continued to demand that he do it anyway. Luna gave Harry a calming draught and asked to hear what how it had gone.

"As you know, I was going to try and make a deal with Umbitch. I asked her what did I have to do to stop having to "write lines" and the #%*&$#&%#&^# very smugly replied 'stop telling lies' so naturally we had a disagreement. I then offered to swear to her on my life and magic – you know swear that solemn oath that I'm not allowed to know about let alone swear. And guess what she said?"

"That no one would believe you because since you had already found a way of illegally entering the Triwizard Tournament, probably by using dark magic, no doubt you also found a way to swear that most sacred of oaths and still lie but live. Therefore, such an oath would not be accepted by anybody because it was you a lying, attention-seeking dark wizard who would be swearing it" Luna asked.

"Bingo" was the boy's reply. "Not the exact words used by the pompous #*$&#*#$&*# but close enough. She then threw more insults at me and my Mother's heritage and both our sexual preferences and practices. Then I asked her what if I was to admit that I was lying – even though I wasn't – and what would happen then."

"I bet she couldn't contain her excitement. Did she have an orgasm?"

"LUNA! As Hermione would say 'language' but…well I wouldn't know since I've never witnessed a female having one. I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't after she finished informing me of what would be happening. She was breathing strangely, had an even weirder and more evil look in her eye than usual, and I think she might have been…quivering…I think that's the word I'm looking for – BUT I DON'T WANT TO THINK ABOUT IT - OKAY!"

"But back to the terms and conditions as she called it. She didn't give me a chance to agree to anything because no doubt she thought she had finally 'won' and informed me that since I had finally admitted to her tonight that I had lied, was and always had been an attention-seeking liar, was in cahoots with Dumbledore who was trying to overthrow the Ministry of Magic and cause chaos and panic in attempt to regain lost glory and more power and was attempting to lead my fellow students astray and recruit them in an army Dumbledore was forming, _**I would be confessing**_. In fact, I would be confessing tomorrow in the Great Hall."

"Just to that?"

"Of course not. Cornelius Fudge, several important Ministry personnel, the entire Hogwarts Board of Governors, all members of the British news media as well as representatives of various foreign news media and a select group of other dignitaries – probably Lucy Malfoy and other Death Eaters – would be on hand to hear my confession. She would be writing the confession and I could not deviate from what was on the confession. After making the statement I would have to swear on my life and magic that it was the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help me Merlin."

"But didn't she say that you swearing on your life and magic wouldn't count because you had already found a dark spell to get around it?"

"Yes, I did mention that to her but she replied that it wouldn't be mentioned. Then I told her that since we both knew that I would really be lying and if I swore to whatever she wrote it would be a lie that my swearing/lying about it would automatically take my magic and kill me. She didn't say anything, she just laughed and that was when she started…quivering…and I looked away."

"Then I just had to ask, if only for curiosity's sake, what would happen after I did this, such as would my detentions of _just writing lines_ finally stop. Guess what she said to that?"

"That it wouldn't because since you had been lying, you would still have to serve detention for lying for so long. Did she say for how long you would still be writing lines?"

"Why yes, she did. I would be writing lines for the rest of my fifth year. The only way these detentions would stop was if the Ministry sent me to Azkaban for the rest of my life. Apparently, the written confession I would be confessing to would say that I had killed Cedric Diggory. Whether it was by accident or design, she refused to say when I asked her only that I would find out when I 'confessed' to everybody. She just said that I would be admitting to being the cause of Cedric Diggory's death and then the Ministry would make the decision as to what would be my fate."

"In other words there is a very good chance that the Ministry would accuse you of the murder of Cedric Diggory's death in some way, shape or form and you would end up in Azkaban for life."

"Well yes and no" Harry replied. "From what I was able to ask before she really started quivering – a lot – I think, but am not sure, she said that maybe the Ministry would take pity on me and allow me to keep my freedom. What was not said was that my name would be dragged through the mud, or worse, and my reputation, as well as the reputation of House Potter, would be forever ruined. I don't know whether or not I would be expelled this time or whether they'd let me stay in school if only so I could flunk my OWLS – since I haven't been able to do any studying or homework assignments due to the detentions and my hand's injury – get abused to the point of being forced to kill myself and, most importantly to Toadbitch, so that I could continue with writing my lines for the rest of the year."

Harry sighed deeply but Luna knew he wasn't finished and asked the question she knew he wanted her to ask.

"In other words, no matter what, tomorrow she WOULD BE CALLING THAT NEWS CONFERENCE AND BE MAKING YOU CONFESS TO THE WORLD WHAT SHE WAS MAKING YOU SAY?"

"Yep. If fact, after I spent only one hour writing lines, she told me she would dismiss me as she had much to arrange that night so that everyone could be assembled and my confession could be made showing the world what a $*&#*#*&#&#^ piece of #*$&*#&$*#*#*# that I and my Mudblood whore of a mother were. She was going to start writing my confession so she could take it to the Ministry that night. She was probably going to say more but since she stopped looking at me well…I did what I did."

"You didn't…kill her?"

"No, but not because I didn't want to. Next to Dumbledore I want to kill her. I really, really, really want to kill her…slowly and painfully. Then it will be McGonagall, ALL Weasleys of my acquaintance, then Hermione "I've-sold-my-soul-to-the-only-bidder-Dumbledore-to-get-perks-and-books, etc." Granger, then Snape, Malfoy – father and son – as well as assorted other students and teachers of this school. Then the Dursleys and if I have time left, all the neighbors, my primary school teachers, many of the students who watched me suffer and said or did nothing, the police and Neighborhood Association of my area, Mrs. Figg and…well I'll think of others."

"I noticed you haven't mentioned Voldie" Luna stated.

"No. I suppose I haven't. However I did forget to mention Sirius, Remus and all members of the Order of the Phoenix. It will be first things first, immediately after you've killed me."

"Harry…we've talked about this. We don't know if it will work or if you…will stay dead" was Luna's sad reply.

"Well after what I did to Umbitch I have no choice."

For once Luna couldn't read him so she nervously asked "What did you do?"

"Well her back was turned to me and since I am screwed no matter what whether it is due by her and the Ministry and/or Dumbledore…I…changed her…into…an Umbitch sized toad. A big, ugly pink Umbitch sized toad. I used my secondary wand since you know I can't use my phoenix and holly wand due to the enchantments Dumbledore placed on it where I can't use my wand to hurt anybody even if they are attacking me. And…well…I cast the hex in parsel and since there are only two people in Britain known to have that _'wicked, evil' skill_ and Voldie is by official Ministry of Magic decree dead, permanently dead and staying that way…it sort of narrows it down to who did it."

Luna laughed herself sick and Harry joined in. The laughter only lasted a few moments but it had helped. Luna knew that Harry was correct. He had to escape from Umbridge, the Ministry of Magic and Dumbledore and it had to be done, ideally, last month in order to save what was left of his Magic. It definitely had to be done now because Umbridge was going to expose Harry for the lying, cheating, attention-seeking son of a Mudblood whore that he truly wasn't but it would be done and each possible scenario would result in Harry's pain and demise whether it was a slow, lingering sentence in Azkaban or the magic-destroying death which would happen to Harry by year's end IF HE LASTED THAT LONG.

Death was the only answer. It was only by death that the spells and magic cast on Harry by Dumbledore, one of the most powerful wizards known (or at least known in Britain and parts of Europe which was the only thing which counted in British minds) could be removed. Harry had to be dead because only death would stop the magic controlling him. Death did helpful things like that on rare occasions.

The plan was theoretical. It consisted of Harry being killed, preferably quickly and painlessly. Stopping his heart would suffice. He then had to remain dead for at least two minutes as that would alert the Goblins to the fact that Harry had died and it had registered in his trust vault. Once he was officially declared dead, the money in his trust vault would, according to the terms and conditions of Harry's grandfather Charlus Potter's Will, automatically return to the Potter main vault and his trust vault would be closed and NO ONE, not even his self-proclaimed Magical Guardian Albus Dumbledore, could ever get their hands on the money.

Harry's death would destroy all of the monitors in Dumbledore's office which watched over and helped control every aspect of Harry's life. The wards on Privet Drive would fail, all of the trinkets in Dumbledore's office would melt and never could be used again unless recast fresh using Harry's living blood and not any "samples" gathered and kept in stasis in case it was needed.

There was a big problem with their "master plan" namely that Luna was really afraid – afraid that it wouldn't work correctly or if it did work, what if she didn't have the necessary skill to reverse the spell and Harry remained dead. She would have killed her friend and she couldn't live with herself if that happened. Could you?

They had planned it all but now that it had to be done, Luna just couldn't do it. Harry had burnt his bridges and there was no going back. Luna knew this and Harry knew she knew it. She also knew that Harry would happily accept death if it got him out of Dumbledore's control and stopped the misery which had been his life. He knew that "logically" it had to be some grand scheme of the old $*#$&#&^#& which would enviably end badly for Harry, probably destroying his life, reputation and definitely killing him. He would never have a decent future so all things considered, why bother trying anymore. He would be gone but his real survivors would still be here and Luna just might be obliged to join him.

She didn't want to die any more than Harry really did. All they wanted was to live a decent life, be allowed to learn and study what they wanted and/or needed, have real friends and hopefully someday a spouse and a family. There were several careers Luna wanted to explore before she settled down to have a family. When her children were old enough she could go back to work and continue to learn, grow and be of service in whatever world she chose to live in, be it Magical (but not in Britain) or Muggle.

It was the same with Harry. He was really a very intelligent person but had to hide it while living with the Dursleys and then again at Hogwarts. It was one of Ron's "jobs" to prevent Harry from learning anything useful or even getting decent grades. There was no way Harry would be allowed to succeed or shine at anything other than playing Quidditch and maybe Defense against the Dark Arts. Dumbledore simply wouldn't allow Harry to do anything except pass certain subjects and take NEWTS and only do average in them.

But Ron had been doing too good a job at sabotaging Harry, so the Granger girl was allowed to join the group and "help Dumbledore help Harry" and although the intelligent but socially inept and extremely naïve (and pompous) girl did help Harry so that he wouldn't fail, Dumbledore knew enough about her to make sure she would never let him go beyond a certain level of acceptability let alone excellence because then he might not need her anymore. Then she would lose the prestige she received as being one of the very few "select" friends of the Boy-Who-Lived and she would lose everything that Dumbledore had promised her. She'd suffer the fate of most Muggleborns, meaning she'd have to leave the world of Magic to get a job which could support her and give her a career. So she too sabotaged Harry's grades for "his own good" as she believed he wouldn't notice or care and because Dumbledore told her to.

Now they had run out of time and it had to be done. "But I can't do it" Luna told Harry. "Since Daddy knows about your problems and you know he asked a healer for his opinion, you also know that the healer wants to help and will swear on his life and magic. I would feel more comfortable and you would stand a better chance of surviving if we let Healer Bedford…kill you."

Harry thought for a moment and then said, "Could he do it tonight? It has to be done before anyone notices I'm missing. If I'm not back at Gryffindor Tower by midnight, Hermione will report it to McGonagall. Since Dumbles already confiscated the map so I "wouldn't use it to get in trouble" he'll look for me, notice I'm missing and start the tracking. Fawkes will find me and…."

"Not if we destroy your wand first," Luna said. "Fawkes can always find you because his feather is your wand's core and Dumbledore has it spelled to obey him and control you. What if Winky pops me to Daddy, I tell him your need, then Winky pops us to Healer Bedford, we get his oath and then Winky brings you there. He kills you, and we put our plan into operation."

Harry said yes. It was his best chance especially since he knew Luna was really scared. Luna had bonded with Winky the house elf but she shared the elf with Harry. It was very involved but it had been the only way especially since poor Dobby had been obliged to also betray Harry. But that was another tale for another time because now, things had to be done and done fast.

And they were. Healer Bedford agreed and swore an oath to Xeno Lovegood and Winky popped back to Harry. She then stripped him of everything from his raggedy used underwear to his glasses. She then destroyed them all as well as Harry's wand. She then took him to Healer Bedford.

After a quick introduction, Healer Bedford killed Harry Potter by stopping his heart. Winky then popped back to Hogwarts to do a few things and to wait and see what happened in Dumbledore's office. He was having a meeting with his Heads of House regarding the "Umbridge problem" and was receiving their weekly report. He then gave them a "pep talk" reminding them to trust him because everything he did, no matter how wrong it might seem to the "untrained" eye and especially when it came to how Harry Potter was being "handled" when it happened.

All of his twinkling, turning, whirling objects and doodads suddenly exploded and then melted. Fawkes let out a long, loud, heart wrecking squawk and all conversation stopped. Dumbledore was the first to regain his composure and he ordered the bird to "Find Harry and bring him to me immediately." However, the bird squawked even louder and flapped its wings in what seemed to Sprout and Flitwick to be a threatening manner until Dumbledore yelled at the bird to find Potter. It was only after the bird disappeared in a flash then Sprout asked "What just happened?" but was told by Dumbledore that nothing happened. He was not believed but since he had said it, then his minions were to believe him.

The bird flashed back and landed near the molten puddle. It then let out a pitiful wail of sorrow and it wasn't until Minerva McGonagall stated "Harry. Something's happened to Harry, hasn't it?"

Dumbledore was ignoring her and was searching the Marauders' Map for the boy. He was not on it. Not wanting to "worry" his staff he merely announced that the boy was hiding after probably once again annoying Umbridge and that the staff should start looking for him and not to call attention to the missing boy. The students, and definitely Umbridge, should not be alerted to the boy's disappearance. He then dismissed them and had Fawkes immediately take him to Gringotts to check the boy's trust vault.

As impossible as it seemed, the Goblins confirmed that the boy was dead and the funds in his trust vault had automatically and irrevocably been transferred to the Potter main vault. Despite all of Dumbledore's coaxing, then arguments and finally subtle threats he was informed that there was no way he or anybody else would ever have access to the trust vault or any of the Potter vaults "unless they have the magical blood of Potters running in their veins" or, as Dumbledore knew very well, no one would get it because Harry was the last of the Potters.

He hurried back to Hogwarts hoping that it was all a big mistake or he was really asleep and having a very bad nightmare. He returned to find out some very disturbing news, namely that Snape had been summoned by Voldemort and the evil wizard was not happy.

While Snape was gone, the Slytherin Prefect whose turn it was to give Potter a detention for being out after curfew had met with a dreadful shock. Umbridge always kept Potter after curfew and never gave him a pass, hence assigning a Prefect, usually a Slytherin or Ravenclaw, to lie in wait for Potter and give him another detention. However, the Prefect had waited but there was no sign of Potter. He got a bad feeling about this for some unexplained reason and decided to go to Umbridge's office to see if Potter was still there. The Prefect was about to knock but then heard a strange noise. Holding his wand, the Prefect slowly opened the door only to find THE CREATURE! He slammed the door shut, locked it from the outside using the strongest locking charm he knew and went for help.

Since Snape couldn't be found he went to Slytherin alumna Aurora Sinistra, carefully explained the situation and off they went to Umbridge's office. Yes, there was definitely a rather large, hideous, giant pink toad hopping around the office making awful noises and breaking things and it quickly knocked both teacher and student down, ran over them and hopped off into the night to do…er, whatever it is that giant, hideous, angry pink toads do.

Eventually she was stunned by Flitwick just around the time Dumbledore returned. A diagnostic was done by the great wizard himself as well as Flitwick and McGonagall. All came to the conclusion that this was indeed Delores Umbridge she had been turned into a giant, pink toad and that there was no recognizable magical signature. Further investigation proved that the spell was irreversible because it had been done in parsel? Since it definitely was not Harry Potter's magical signature, that meant only one other person could be responsible, but that just couldn't be true because it was the official Ministry of Magic's position that said person was dead and staying that way. Someone, namely Dumbledore, would have a lot of explaining to do and he decided not to do it until a way could be found to change the bitch back.

However, to quote an old Muggle saying "When it rains, it pours" meaning when things go wrong, a lot of things go wrong at the same time and they did. Dumbledore had absolutely forbidden the Goblins from announcing Harry Potter's death so naturally, being Goblins, they gave an exclusive to the _Daily Prophet_. The next day's headlines simply announced the death but the Goblins said they didn't know how, where or why it had happened only that it did and then told about the fate of his trust vault and the Potter fortune.

Fudge and an entourage all but flew to Hogwarts especially since they had been unable to contact Umbridge. Let's just say that breakfast in the Great Hall was an…unusual occasion…consisting of many interesting conversations, demands for retractions, hypothesis, happiness (from Slytherins) and sadness but from very few people as so many were still mad at Harry for this and that and he was an even bigger pariah than last year due to "his lies" about Voldemort's return, Cedric's "unexplained death" and also being blamed for Umbridge's presence at Hogwarts.

As always the Gryffindors were waiting for instructions from Dumbledore to form their opinion and since he hadn't been seen that morning it probably meant he was doing damage control or "looking for the $*#$&*#^&#^$ git" as Ron Weasley opined.

It was only after Fudge arrived and a search for Delores was commenced that a hideous, giant pink toad was found and pronounced by an Auror to be the Undersecretary. Fudge's outrage knew no bounds and accusations rained down on everybody from Dumbledore, to Harry Potter, to Gryffindors to anything Fudge could think of no matter how ridiculous it was. Since reporters were present, the evening edition of the _Prophet_ was very interesting reading.

Dumbledore barely avoided being arrested. Since Harry Potter was missing and there was no actual proof other than the Goblins' word that he was dead, it was decided that Potter was missing because he had shamelessly spelled Delores Umbridge into the thing she had become and when Potter was found, Dumbledore would force him to change her back and then Fudge could do with the boy whatever he wanted.

Yes it would be very interesting to find Harry Potter, especially if he, like someone else, was well and truly and officially dead and staying that way.


	3. Chapter 3 - Surprising Consequences

J K Rowling owns all the rights to the books and the amazing characters she created. I write only to satisfy my imagination and use my creativity and make no money from my writings.

Chapter 3 – Surprising Consequences

Luna had to return to Hogwarts if only because eventually she would be missed. She would be missed by Pomfrey and Flitwick and those Ravenclaws who wanted to hurt her. Neville Longbottom, Su Li and Millicent Bulstrode would also miss her. Neville knew if anybody knew what had happened to Harry it would be Luna, but he wouldn't tell anybody else, he just wanted to know that Harry was safe and hopefully had finally managed to escape. Also if it would be possible for Neville to escape as that was his fondest wish also.

But Luna had to feign ignorance to Neville, at least for the moment because although he was trustworthy he was still a Gryffindor and Dumbledore had ways of finding out all the secrets of Gryffindor House and used any means possible to accomplish it. He always had and always would and now he was doing it with a vengeance. Luna noticed it and it was probably the only thing which saved her as Dumbledore would find out that Neville had talked to Luna and asked her and then Dumbledore would become suspicious and rip Luna's mind apart.

Therefore, although she had planned to leave Hogwarts for the Christmas holidays and not come back due to she and her Father being killed in a "hunting accident" the plans had to be moved up. She had to die and do it soon. Therefore, it was a horrified and hysterical Hagrid who had found the remains of Luna Lovegood. Apparently the girl, who was known to wander around the school and grounds at all times of the day and night, had been wandering and met an Acromantula who had invited her to lunch (or maybe dinner) with her being the main course. All that was left of the girl was some bones, some of her long, distinctive blond hair, her wand and bits of her uniform.

Madam Pomfrey sadly confirmed that yes, the remains were that of Luna Lovegood. Her grief stricken Father was told not to come to Hogwarts because her remains and possessions would be sent to him. It was rather insulting and never done to a Pureblood like the Lovegoods. The Muggle family members of Muggleborns yes, but Purebloods and Half-bloods no – unless you still didn't follow Dumbledore or had little to no political power or connections.

Only Pomfrey, Flitwick, Neville, Su Li and Millie Bulstrode mourned and no one else and the girl was forgotten within the week as there were so many other interesting things far worthier of people's attention than the tragic death of an extremely unpopular lunatic girl.

Since the Goblins announced Harry's death even the Ministry had to believe it but certain members decided to use the fact to their advantage. An official announcement was made stating that Harry Potter had been killed not by any one person but by MAGIC ITSELF. Apparently Magic "knew" that Potter had killed the valiant Cedric Diggory because Diggory was reaching for the Cup and would then be the winner. So Potter killed him, roughed himself up a bit and then returned with Cedric's body and a ridiculous story to not only save himself from being convicted of murder but to gain some good publicity.

"Potter couldn't stand not being the center of attention" Fudge had announced to an international press conference. "He thought that by lying and cheating his way into the Tournament he would claim more fans and worshippers and was horrified when the good and noble people of Britain and all decent students at Hogwarts saw through his perfidy and made him a much deserved outcast. His degenerative mind thought the murder of Diggory and the ridiculous lie about You-Know-Who's return would regain him the adoration and fame he had lost by cheating and lying and that people would flock to his side so that he would again save them from You-Know-Who liked he had done when a baby. When it didn't he became desperate because he knew he was being investigated and would soon be caught."

"Undersecretary Delores Umbridge volunteered to teach Defense so that she could keep an eye on him while the Ministry finished its investigation. She tried to make him confess his guilt but he would not and the night of his disappearance, poor, dear Delores" Fudge stated wiping a fake tear from his eye "told him he would be exposed and arrested the next morning (she hadn't but since that had been the plan they had made in advance he told people anyway). He then cast a terrible curse on the Undersecretary using that most evil, dark and wicked of magic, namely parsel tongue. Although Dumbledore has tried to hide the knowledge, it is known at Hogwarts that Potter was the Heir of Slytherin if only in darkness, hence his ability to speak the language of the snake. Harry Potter was and always had been a Dark Lord" he stated again playing it for all it was worth.

"The Ministry has it on reliable authority that while he was making his escape from the wards of Hogwarts, he again was using the very darkest of magic to cast one last curse on certain students and mercifully Magic Itself could stand no more of his evil and MAGIC KILLED HARRY POTTER. That was why there was no body to be found as…MAGIC WILLED IT" he finished dramatically.

It became an official Ministry proclamation and the name of Harry Potter was to be forever cursed. It was also announced that if for some reason he was ever to be referred to, say by a student writing a paper on…darkness, evil, dark lords, etc… then he was to be known as "Harry Dark Lord" because the Clan Potter had been an Ancient and Noble House, known for good Lords and Ladies and as such that House did not deserve to end when the last known legal heir died an ignominious death. Harry Dark Lord was forever cursed for his evil but by a special law passed by the Ministry of Magic, for historic purposes James Charlus Potter was to be known as the last real Potter and not the $*#*#$& ^& bastard son of the Mudblood whore James had no doubt been bewitched to marry.

Thus ended the "Potter Problem" of Cornelius Fudge. Voldemort was definitely not back and staying dead because it had all been a lie perpetrated by Harry Dark Lord and helped along by Albus Dumbledore. Now everything could go back to normal and there was the added bonus that a new dark lord had been nipped in the bud by _**Magic Itself**_ so Britain was safe once more and would stay that way - _**at least while Fudge was in office**_.

It was also whispered that such _**things**_ like Harry Dark Lord happened when decent Pureblood wizards were bewitched into marrying Mudblood whores, so let it be a lesson to all of the dangers of befriending Mudbloods. In fact, a new movement was quickly started calling for ALL MUDBLOODS to be cast out of not just Hogwarts, but Magical Britain. Even Mudbloods who had graduated and left the magical world should be arrested, carefully interrogated so the Ministry could finally find out how they had "stolen magic" so it could be prevented and perhaps the stolen magic might be given back to the person it had been stolen from.

That had sounded like an excellent idea to most people and a movement was begun to pass a law to that effect. It was written up very nicely (and fast) by the leaders of the movement such as Lucius Malfoy (and other "Imperiused" Death Eaters) and probably would have passed if certain requirements had been too much - much too much.

Originally any and ALL Mudbloods (they kept using that word in print) even ones who had left Magical Britain, were to be rounded up, dosed with Veritaserum to find out "The Secret" and how to counter it. Then they would be killed. All Mudbloods currently attending Hogwarts would be expelled and then killed as would any child discovered to have Magic by the Hogwarts Great Book of Names. It was to be done now and forever and there would be no exceptions.

But it was too drastic and other Magical Governments were vehemently protesting this latest madder than usual British scheme. Also, Muggleborns (as decent people still called them) had married Half-bloods and/or other Muggleborns and produced children who were now classified as Half-bloods. The spouses of the Muggleborns didn't want to lose their spouse and used their influence to alter the law.

In the end, any Muggleborn who had graduated from Hogwarts and still lived in Magical Britain was allowed to live and work but not in Magical Britain. They had to leave and were given six months to do so.

If they married another Muggleborn and had children they were allowed to keep their child(ren) but the child(ren)'s magic would be bound. If a worthy person (such as a Half-blood and more rarely a Pureblood) offered to adopt the magical child, that was an option as the kid would have a chance to remain a wizard/witch and live in the paradise of Magical Britain. If the Muggleborn couple had any more children, that child's magic would automatically be bound if the couple hadn't left.

Draco Malfoy and his minions were thrilled to death as all MUDBLOODS currently attending Hogwarts were expelled, had their wands snapped and all of their magical possessions were confiscated to be used for "charity cases like the Weasleys." He had wanted them killed but even a Malfoy couldn't get everything they wanted so he consoled himself with Granger being kicked out of "his world" and all other filthy creatures like her. His only regret was that he didn't have the opportunity to taunt her because it was done at the Ministry and he was at Hogwarts. Things had happened too fast that even his Father didn't have time to send for his boy to witness this historical event.

The MUDBLOODS were stripped not only of their wands and possessions left at Hogwarts but of their robes. They were all cast out of Magical Britain with nothing but the underwear they were wearing. Mercifully they were immediately taken directly to their homes but every magical thing they owned was forfeited, including any magical familiars.

Hermione Granger was beyond heartbroken. She had an expandable trunk if only to carry all of her many, many extra books both Magical and Muggle. She had her school robes, casual robes and Muggle clothes and it was all lost to her. Worse of all she was losing her beloved cat Crookshanks because he was half-kneazle and therefore considered "too magical" for a Mudblood to have.

Ron Weasley was in heaven. He had lost Potter and all of the perks and money he received for spying on him but now he had gotten rid of Granger who he really despised and only put up with because she helped him with his homework and made sure he passed his exams. Actually he hadn't gotten rid of Granger, the Ministry had but he took credit for it if only because he was a Pureblood. And now he got to kill her cat. He hated that cat because the cat was an excellent judge of character, loathed Ron (and all Weasleys) and although Peter Pettigrew had been disguised as the "family rat" he had been Ron's personal rat and he still blamed Crookshanks for outing his pet. Now it was payback time.

Ginny and several other girls were attacking Hermione's trunk because besides the useless books, Granger had good clothes, shoes, excellent Muggle underwear (Magicals just didn't do decent underwear), special toiletries and a very good and expensive trunk and book bag. The books were still taken by younger years and people who liked to read but the cat was up for grabs. Ron was going to grab it all right and strangle it, break its neck or something and it was definitely going to be painful.

However, Neville came to the rescue and had already taken the cat. Ron said he couldn't have it as he already had a toad and Ron was claiming the cat.

"You are only claiming it so you can kill it" Neville replied.

"So, I'm still claiming it."

"Well I claimed it first."

"You'll have to kill your toad as you can't have two pets at Hogwarts."

"You have your owl so are you going to kill it?"

"Hell no. Even though it's a worthless owl, I'm keeping it and I AM CLAIMING THAT CAT BECAUSE I AM GOING TO KILL IT!"

"Well I'm claiming it now and will find a home for it" Neville snapped back.

" . !" Ron snapped back loudly through gritted teeth. "I'm claiming it and I'm going to kill it as it is my right as a Pureblood."

"Well I'm a Pureblood too and of much better blood than you" Neville actually snarled at Ron.

"BUT I'M A MUCH BETTER WIZARD BECAUSE I'M NOT A #$*#$& *^ SQUIB LIKE YOU AND I'M CLAIMING THAT CAT SO I CAN KILL IT."

Fortunately for Crookshanks he had already been saved (as was Trevor the Toad) by Winky thanks to Neville and had already been whisked away from Hogwarts. Also Professor McGonagall had quietly entered Gryffindor Tower with the sole intention of rescuing the cat for herself and overheard the conversation. She had lost one of her favorite students and no matter what Albus said, she was going to save the girl's cat and punish a certain #$*#&$^ &^ &^ & Weasley.

"That's 25 points to Neville for saving a cat and 50 points from Ronald for being a $*#&*#*#* sadist" McGonagall called out. Students were shocked as their Head of House never cursed (at least in their presence). But she wasn't finished with Ron %*&%##*#** Weasley.

"I AM CLAIMING CROOKSHANKS THE CAT" she added. "I am also warning you Ronald Bilius Weasley that if ANYTHING HAPPENS TO NEVILLE LONGBOTTOM OR HIS TOAD TREVOR YOU WILL BE BLAMED FOR IT AND AUTOMATICALLY PUNISHED – SEVERELY. By anything I mean, an accident or a "prank" or if Trevor makes one of his famous escapes and doesn't return within the two days like he usually does. Also Messrs. Fred and George Weasley will be bound by this because everyone knows they 'help their itsy bitsy babykins brother get his revenge. If a "prank" is done to Neville, Trevor the Toad or ANY PET belonging to a Gryffindor – or even a Slytherin – I will punish you. CRUELTY TO ANIMALS WILL NEVER BE TOLERATED. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?"

She did to everyone in Gryffindor House. She had a few more announcements to make regarding the "situation" and while she was doing it her very good hearing heard Ron "the Idiot" Weasley snidely remark "I wonder if cruelty to Squibs counts" he smirked to Seamus Finnegan. McGonagall then gave him a week's detention with Snape.

After she finished her announcements he took Ron, Fred, George, Ginny, Lee Jordan, Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan aside and read them the riot act. "Harry Potter is dead. Dead and gone. Therefore, the Headmaster has no real use for any of you…except perhaps Fred and George…on occasion. However, I am warning you Ronald and Ginerva Weasley, you can no longer use your brothers' skills and reputation for your own purposes and next year, you are really on your own. A word to the wise - and to you Ronald Weasley - should be sufficient."

Five of the six were smart enough to understand the warning and when Ron got himself in trouble – with Malfoy but also a few Ravenclaws – Fred and George told their babykins brother to fight his own battles. They also gave him some good advice, which he totally ignored, namely "Don't antagonize or pick on Neville anymore" because they knew something he didn't but they didn't tell him that as he wouldn't believe it and if he did, would make a mess of things.


	4. Chapter 4 - And Now for an Entirely Diff

J K Rowling owns all the rights to the books and the amazing characters she created. I write only to satisfy my imagination and use my creativity and make no money from my writings.

Chapter 4 – And Now for an Entirely Different War

Albus Dumbledore RULED MAGICAL BRITAIN. Most knew it and accepted it, even if it wasn't an "official Ministry of Magic proclamation" or law. Some fought it by fair means or foul, even if it meant leaving the land of their birth forever and, since January 1, 1985, leaving one's child/children behind as well as their land and wealth. You see the "Great Legislator" – another one of Dumbledore's titles – had passed a law _"to save and allow the population of Magical Britain to recover from the recent terrible war"_ by passing a law saying that any child born in Magical Britain after January 1, 1979 MUST ATTEND HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY or suffer the loss of their Magic by having it bound.

The law was designed to keep children in Britain and to prevent a population drain from occurring as so many people, families and ancient lines had been lost that unless something was done NOW to stop it, soon there wouldn't be enough young people left in Britain to breed and keep up the population. It was estimated (by Dumbledore's "experts") that it would happen within fifty years if drastic measures were not taken and put into effect immediately.

So it was done and even if your family had fled before October 31, 1981 (the official end of the war) your child had to return to Britain and be educated at Hogwarts. If you didn't return with them you still had to pay their tuition and all expenses and they remained in Britain. In other words return or lose your children forever while still having to support them and they would live in Britain.

The Goblins also benefitted from the new laws because if you tried transferring money out of Britain you were heavily fined. For example, say the Diggorys wanted to leave. Their son Cedric was born in 1976 so missed the education cut-off date. However, if they decided to leave before he went to Hogwarts, they'd be leaving most of their money and property behind because retroactive to January 1, 1979, you could only take out a certain amount of money from Gringotts per month unless you were buying something, or investing.

For example, you wanted to send money out of the country or at the very least change your money into Muggle currency and start a Muggle account. Once you had a Muggle account you could then transfer it out of the country. Many people had tried to do this until the Goblins alerted the Ministry – and Dumbledore. You could not take more than G1,000 per month out in cash unless you could prove you were buying something otherwise you were fined 10% by the Goblins and 5% by the Ministry. That was why so many people had the Goblin equivalent of a credit card or used the merchants' accounts as this circumvented having to pay a fee/fine even if you were just shopping. Bottomless bags were monitored by the Goblins also.

The only exceptions were for investing via the Goblins or using them to purchase property such as jewelry, artifacts, etc. for personal use and goods to sell if you were a merchant. It ended up very complicated due to all of the special rules and regulations involved which you had to have a Goblin explain (another fee). It did manage to keep people from leaving Britain even if they didn't have school aged children because they had to use galleons as that was the official currency of Magical Britain.

Only the very rich and powerful Purebloods and a few Half-bloods were able to get around the restrictions due to paying some very heavy bribes to certain Goblins. If they needed to take out G100,000 immediately and/or get some Muggle currency for some reason, they would only have to pay the G1,000 fee/fine if a Goblin was paid enough to "make a mistake" and as long as Gringotts received a fee (and a cut of the bribed Goblin's money), no one cared.

Such a thing had recently saved the life of Lucius Malfoy when the Dark Lord demanded a large sum of cash in payment of a "fine" he had levied on Lucius. Seems Voldie found out about "the diary" and what happened to it and Lucius had to pay this fine so that Voldie could replace "the diary" or at least that was what he told his people. In any event Lucius had to get Voldie G1,000,000 and the same amount but in Pounds Sterling, the U.S. Dollar and silver and gold ingots or else the Malfoy line would end – painfully.

Naturally the Ministry and now Dumbledore didn't know a thing about it. The Ministry was too busy "rejoicing" at solving the "Mudblood Problem" and they were still raking in those heritage fines but the most important thing of all, or at least in Cornelius Fudge's opinion, now that Harry Dark Lord was dead and forever disgraced, all of those "silly rumors" about You-Know-Who being back were stopped. Even Dumbledore had to keep his big mouth shut.

Potter's dying had ruined most of the plans Dumbledore had made for the past twenty years. Only he, his followers and naturally Tom and his Death Eaters knew the truth. There was no way that Dumbles could force Tom into the open as "the lies had stopped" and Tom was now able to plan, recruit, gather strength and it was just possible that Tom would take over Britain without having to cast a single dark curse or hex.

Drastic measures needed to be taken but as things stood Dumbledore simply didn't have the manpower, enough money and no potential recruits as he had lost many followers simply because they were Mudbloods. Although some Half-bloods had shown promise, some were now blaming him for the exile of Muggleborns.

There were also a few intelligent people left in Magical Britain who thought that now that the Mudbloods were all gone and not coming back, even if You-Know-Who had come back like Harry Dark Lord said, since one of his major goal had been accomplished, there wasn't much left other than getting rid of Albus Dumbledore

Logically some people knew that Voldemort would never attack Muggles as it just wasn't feasible. Many remembered he just wanted to ban Muggleborns or at least take them from their parents and raise them in special orphanages because there had been too many near catastrophes when the Muggleborn's family threatened the safety of the Magical World by purposely or accidentally revealing Magic's existence. Early in the war he had been willing to negotiate this but definitely not the second and in the estimation of many, the most important thing – stopping Albus Dumbledore from destroying Magic.

Ever since Dumbledore had defeated Gellert Grindelwald the world had been his proverbial oyster. He quickly gained not only the gratitude of many but a lot of political power. Even before he became Headmaster of Hogwarts people listened to him. When he finally got his dearest wish and became Headmaster, he totally revolutionized the school to his way of thinking, namely, he immediately halved the courses offered at the school and by the beginnings of the 1960's only a third of the courses were taught and then very watered down versions. It was his "life's work" to do away with all dark magic with him being the arbitrator and last word on what Magic was considered dark and what wasn't. He had even done away with most of the clubs and a few sports leaving only Quidditch as the only sport allowed to be played at Hogwarts.

He had gone so far as to change how holidays were or were not celebrated. Yule became Christmas, Samhein became Halloween and although throughout the centuries of its existence all religions were allowed to be practiced at Hogwarts (as long as you didn't go around proselytizing) once Dumbledore came to power he forbad all religions from being mentioned let alone practiced, especially the "old religions" which most of the Magical World practiced. His reason was he didn't want to scare off the Muggleborns.

Dumbledore prided himself on his defense and protection of Muggleborns, or at least that is what he always preached. It was said he was their "hero" and their "savior" but he really wasn't as he just used them for his own purposes. Always had and always would…until now.

Intelligent people knew that Dumbledore had to go for many, many reasons and this would be one thing Voldemort would not negotiate. Dumbledore knew it also and was not going to allow this to happen. He preached about the "Next Great Adventure" but he definitely didn't plan on going there anytime soon, if ever, if he could help it.

He had to expose Voldemort's existence and once again discredit him and his goals. Ever since he found out that Tom Riddle's wand core contained one of Fawkes' feathers, he had been able to "influence" Tom's magic when he used his wand. It had been the same with Harry Potter. Dumbles had been able to "convince" Tom to do some very destructive things due to the dark spells he used and this had slowly but surely led to Tom doing some insane things.

Best of all, Tom had no idea it was happening to him. Due to the dark magic Dumbledore used, he was able to subtly "persuade" Tom into doing frightful things as well as slowly driving him insane. The only puzzling thing was that Dumbledore didn't know exactly what Tom was doing until he did it. He had a hunch what it might be but had no proof. All he knew was that it was working and was changing Tom into a fiend.

Unfortunately, a fiend he might be, but Tom was still very intelligent and magically powerful and Dumbledore didn't know just how much magic Tom knew about. Tom was also a much better general than Dumbledore. Dumbledore also had a reputation to live up to as the merciful, caring Leader of the Light who preached redemption and demanded mercy for the "mislead" wizards who had turned to evil and joined Voldemort. He had even convinced the Ministry not to use lethal spells or curses as it might cause the Death Eaters to die "unsaved" and in darkness.

It did sound great on paper but in reality, much to his great shock, Tom was winning despite having turned into an insane darkest of lords and even Dumbledore couldn't stop him unless the Greatest Wizard since Merlin changed his tactics. But that would "sully" his reputation. So the prophecy was "discovered" not only to save Magical Britain but Dumbledore's good standing as Leader of the Light.

Dumbledore manipulated people to do his bidding and thus Lily Evans married James Potter because it was a way to defeat Voldemort. Somehow the child had survived and although Voldemort "died" Dumbledore knew that he really hadn't. He had quickly seized custody of the boy and hid him away from the world and had him raised according to Dumbledore's special needs. The boy's life was his to command and use and the child had no free will, love, knowledge and…well he would never have a chance at a decent life let alone the one his heritage called for.

Dumbles made certain he received the other wand with Fawkes' feather. He spelled his wand to make the boy reckless, foolhardy and many other things. That along with the blood wards and treatment by the Dursleys, the various, guilt, laziness and inescapable loyalty charms directed mostly to Dumbles and lesser ones to the Weasleys and served to further trap the boy. The wand was spelled so that Harry could never, ever harm or cast a defense spell against Dumbledore, any Weasley or a teacher and to a lesser extent Hermione Granger. With Tom Riddle it had been the opposite as he tortured, abused and killed even the most faithful of followers and hadn't known why as it was totally illogical and counterproductive.

Now the boy was dead (without permission) but at least there was one less Horcrux to deal with but Tom hadn't been outed which would have been the next step or "test" for the boy. Dumbledore had planned on doing the same old, same old but this time with different results – he would win, defeat Tom and do it as quickly as possible.

However, now it wasn't working and that meant only one thing – Voldemort had a new wand. And he did. In fact he had several and he had had a complete specialized magical diagnostic examination done outside of Britain and had found out many, many interesting things. He had them corrected, absorbed two of his Horcruxes and – VOILA – a new, improved Voldemort was back and was never going to be spelled, hexed, cursed or used by ANYONE ever again but especially Albus Dumbledore.

Of course he hid his new body under a glamour so everybody would think he still looked like a snake and was still insane and not able to think and plan like he had when he started his crusade. He had to fool all otherwise he would be betrayed as, like it had been his entire life, ' .ANYONE!

Everything was on hold as Voldemort healed and gained strength, planned, recruited new and competent followers while weeding out and eliminating some of the more depraved scum which in his insanity he had recruited and used.

It was now only a matter of time before he went after Dumbledore and Albus knew it. He had to prevent this and what he needed besides more willing fools and tons of money and spies – good ones, who would not be found out like poor Snape had been. Snape had been summoned to a meeting and never returned. The Goblins wouldn't tell Dumbledore if Snape was dead as "it is none of your business" so he was either dead, imprisoned or more likely now that Potter was dead, working for Voldemort.

Yes, Albus Dumbledore the real ruler of Magical Britain was having many bad days. He was down but only temporary and was positive that he would soon "win" by defeating Tom Riddle and be back on top with even more power and positions than he had had. He had one sure fire way of saving the day, saving himself and defeating Tom Riddle, but it was very, very risky and he would only use it if everything else failed.

Unfortunately it looked like he would have to do it because he had no other choice. It might kill the followers he had left but then, he would be in a position to obtain more and in many cases, far better ones than he had ever had. It would start when all of the students returned to Hogwarts after the holidays.

The students and even a few teachers had mixed emotions. Those students who had Muggleborn friends and relatives were naturally upset at what had happened and happened so quickly. Most teachers knew it was the beginning of the end and with the exception of a giant pink toad, none of them liked it.

Horace Slughorn had been forced out of retirement to replace the missing Snape as Potions Professor. Personally he had nothing against Muggleborns and knew some he had taught were far more intelligent, powerful and talented than many a Pureblood of "impeccably pure blood" but he always went with the flow in politics although he did try to use his influence to help the truly deserving ones.

Lily Evans had been one example but she was doomed because James Potter wanted her at all costs and apparently Dumbledore had several uses for her. When James Potter had actually married her most people (like McGonagall) thought she was set for life and had a bright future ahead of her, but Horace knew better as she would be nothing more than a prize, a possession to James Potter and as his wife, she would never be allowed the opportunity to grow and use her talent and intelligence for anything other than perhaps tutoring any child she might have.

In the end even that had been denied to her when she met her death. Despite what Dumbledore told everyone and the official Ministry position on the matter, if anyone had laid the foundation to defeat someone like Voldemort it had been something Lily had done, not her 15 month old child. But she was a Mudblood and no one would believe a Mudblood could be that powerful or that learned to defeat someone like Voldemort. Therefore, it was probably something in the baby's blood and magic – inherited from his Pureblood father – which defeated Voldemort.

Horace knew better as did anyone, especially a teacher, who knew James Potter. Granted the Potter Clan was known for certain talents and levels of intelligence but not on a scale powerful enough to defeat a Dark Lord like Voldemort. Potters were good at Transfiguration and dueling and some of them, like Charlus, James' father, were financially saavy. But the Clan was usually neutral in politics, Charlus had been the first Potter in three generations to be sorted into Gryffindors and although he did not agree with some of Tom Riddle's politics, he was definitely not a Dumbledore supporter and never would be.

Unfortunately for Charlus, once the spoiled, arrogant James went to Hogwarts, Dumbledore seduced him to the Light Side and James was lost forever. Charlus had lost his son and the Potter line was in great danger of extinction for many reasons, but before Charlus died, he made an ironclad, totally unbreakable if only to avenge himself against Albus Dumbledore. James had basically been disinherited and if the child in Lily Evans Potter's womb was not found worthy, then he too would be given just a trust vault (albeit a very generous trust vault) and it would continue until either a Potter was worthy to inherit or the line ended. For once not even Dumbledore could do a damn thing about it.

Horace had not been the only one to laugh at Dumbledore and the very arrogant James, when Charlus' Will was read. The real details had been hushed up but some people found out and some even took similar steps to safeguard their heritage and estates from the very great possibility that Dumbledore would have access to it. James had been bragging that when his father died, he would be turning over his Wizengamot vote to Dumbledore and donating all the money Albus wanted to fight the war from the Potter estate. Given that Charlus was in excellent health and James' cruel (and extremely stupid) bragging, nasty people (or rather people with common sense) whispered that James _"had a feeling"_ that his father wouldn't live to survive the war, and rumormongers hinted that perhaps Charlus' untimely death had been planned. Naturally Voldemort was blamed but rumor also had it the Dark Lord himself denied having had it done.

But it didn't matter now as Harry Potter had died and the Potter wealth was trapped in Goblin vaults and after 1,000 years, it would be divided between various charities with Gringotts taking and the Ministry of Magic getting their cut or rather fees and taxes. But who knew if the Magical World would survive for another 1,000 years.

Horace was thinking about this and many other things over a glass of excellent brandy. It had been gifted to him by a grateful student who had made a success of himself and believed that it had been Horace he had to thank. In some ways he did but the student had had talent, ambition and drive otherwise Horace wouldn't have looked at him twice. But it was good that people thought Horace had contributed to their success.

He had reaped many rewards over the years and had been extremely angry when Albus Dumbledore forced him into early retirement so that he could keep his latest, talented but helpless pawn under his thumb. Albus claimed that Severus "owed" him for saving the boy from Azkaban, but Horace knew the real reasons. To use a crude expression, Albus had Snape by the balls and would never let him go as Snape was too talented, intelligent and magically powerful. People such as Snape were ripe for the picking and if Albus hadn't been able to trap him into a life of guilt and slavery than he would have simply insisted he be sent to Azkaban or had the man quietly killed.

In was a well-known in certain privileged circles that Albus had Snape brew all of the potions needed by the Hogwarts Infirmary to "save money" yet that money was used for something else which did not appear on the books. It was whispered that he had Snape brew potions for Albus' personal use but no one dare whisper it too loudly or Albus would hear them and put a stop to the offending person's rumors one way or another.

One of Horace's non-negotiable terms for returning to Hogwarts was that he would not brew any potions for the Infirmary unless it was an absolute emergency as no Potions instructor before Snape had been tasked with all that brewing and he simply would not do it. Naturally Albus had tried to cajole him into doing certain "favors" in regards to brewing and Horace not only refused but reported Albus to the Board of Governors. Albus denied it when questioned but although the Board believed Horace they adopted a wait and see attitude hoping that in the end Albus would slip up and they could sanction him. It was hoped that if there were too many sanctions something could be done to force Albus to retire although everybody knew that would never happen - voluntarily.

Horace finished the brandy and decided to retire. As he rose from his very comfortable Italian made leather chair (another gift) he saw it. There in front of him was a ghost in the form of a boy. From the looks of the boy one would think he was younger, perhaps 12 or 13 instead of the 15 years Horace knew was the boy's age. He had never met Harry Potter in life but he saw pictures of him to know that this ghost was the late slandered child.

"Hello" said the ghost. "I'm sorry to disturb you sir but I don't have much time and from what I have heard you are the only teacher in this school who has not been forced to sign that employment contract or take the oath of employment which Dumbledickhead has been forcing on people for years. You are Professor Slughorn?"

Horace hesitated for a moment before replying due to shock but then replied "Yes. Yes I am. And do I have the honor of addressing the ghost of Harry James Potter?"

The ghost smiled sadly "I've never heard anyone refer to it as an honor to meet me or at least not since the day I was told by Hagrid that I was a wizard and taken to Diagon Alley to get my supplies. There were some people in the Leaky Cauldron who mobbed me and shook my hand and confused the hell out of me as I was brought up to think I was nothing more than a freakish, worthless waste of space which should not have been born or drown shortly thereafter. However, I seriously doubt any of those people would still be of the same opinion."

"Oh Mr. Potter," Horace began sadly, "I assure you that there are many people who…."

"Not to call you a liar or anything other than trying to be nice and trying not to hurt my feelings, but I must disagree with you all things considering. I know exactly what people think about me. I can count on one hand those who miss me or are even sad that I have been declared dead. Thanks for being polite and considerate though."

"Unfortunately" the ghost continued "I don't have much time and I really need to warn you. Dumbledore is going to be doing something to regain some of the power he lost. He knows Voldie is really back, hasn't been able to control the war which hasn't been declared and won't be and he knows that if he doesn't strike soon, he will be lost because this time a new and improved Voldie will win and Dumbledork will be worse than dead as his legend, his legacy will be destroyed."

"Albus is always scheming, getting away with things for years but this time I think he will be stopped" Horace beamed. "Your death has seen his star fade and…."

"But it won't because he will be doing something so truly dark and evil that maybe even Voldie wouldn't stoop that low. I've heard from a reliable source that you know the real Albus Dumbledore and have been one of the few teachers to escape his manipulations due to your friendships and 'street smarts' which is why I am here. Please listen and take the necessary steps or else you can kiss Hogwarts and Magical Britain goodbye."

Then the ghost told Horace Slughorn what Albus Dumbledore was planning on doing. Horace had seen and heard much in his long life (he was over 100 years old) but he couldn't believe what the ghost was telling him. He knew Albus Dumbledore was a bit unscrupulous but this…he just couldn't… it was so wrong, so very wrong. It just could not be allowed to happen.

Just before he finished the ghost began to fade and the last words he said to Horace Slughorn were "It's up to you to stop it. If you don't then…."

The ghost faded from view and Horace poured himself another brandy and gulped in down. He would definitely have to visit a former student, an Unspeakable at the Ministry and be thoroughly checked to make sure it hadn't been a dream and that he wasn't hallucinating. If it was true…then the ghost was right. ALBUS DUMBLEDORE HAD TO BE STOPPED…whatever the cost.


End file.
